Insecure Writers Want to Know
Happy Fourth of July, fellow Insecure Writers! Enjoy your holiday.
A genre I read but haven’t tried writing yet would be the cozy mystery. The whodunit. The funny thing is, I don’t know if I’m smart enough to create such a mystery.
We need a dead body—and a reason to be dead. We need a wide cast of suspects who all knew the victim. Connections. Or backstory with the victim. We need solid clues as well as red herrings and misdirection in the cozy. And we need a sleuth. I’m leaning toward the amateur detective. Someone who will assist the real detective as well as possibly irritate or at least bother him or her by interfering with the investigation because the sleuth has some connection to the Detective’s key suspect in the crime. As for my amateur detective, she will, of course, solve the mystery.
Those of you who create cozies, how am I doing? Do I have the basic mechanics of mystery writing? I realize there is more to creating a good cozy than just these major points. Please feel free to offer advice. Who knows. One day I might actually create a cozy.
As for Determination: A Mother of Five Conquers College, our fearless leader Alex Cavanaugh has graciously shared a short post I created about my college memoir in his IWSG post this month. Thanks, Alex!
Natalie Aguirre has also graciously shared a short blurb I created for my college memoir in her “Follower News” section of one of her interviews. You can see it here: http://www.literaryrambles.com/2025/06/author-interview-michael-p-spradlin-and.html Thank you, Natalie!
I’m considering buying ads for Determination: A Mother of Five Conquers College. Have any of you purchased Facebook ads or any other kind of advertising to promote sales of your book? Please share any tips you may have. It would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
**Please Note:
I will not post in August. I need to focus on promoting my college memoir. You can purchase a copy here: https://books2read.com/Determination-A-Mother-of-Five-Conquers-College Thank you!
So, how about you? Is there a genre you’d like to try and write? More power to you! Go for it!
Thank you for stopping by my little spot on the web. Please come again! And please sign up for my FREE monthly newsletter to find tips on writing and camping. It’s greatly appreciated.
This post was written for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I’d like to thank our co-hosts for July: Rebecca Douglass, Natalie Aguirre, Cathrina Constantine, and Louise Barbour! Please visit them if you can.
Our group posts on the first Wednesday of every month. To join us, or learn more about the group, click HERE.